QuaranTime: Reel Life Productions
By Tina Huang
Since the start of spring break, senior Sam Park has been isolating at home with family, utilizing the additional free time to build upon her filmmaking and storytelling skills.
Although many Exonians are separated at this time, social distancing has not prevented Reel Life Productions (RLP), the Academy’s film club, from virtually completing their annual Closing Assembly video. According to Park, the video’s primary goal is to “make something that people will remember the Class of 2020, and this school year, by.”
In contrast to the previous year’s video making process, Park noted RLP’s new approach to collecting clips. “I think this year's process is especially different since we're working from home— we're using a lot of collected footage and very little footage that we filmed specifically for the vid,” Park said.
However, Park believed that the circumstances actually encouraged students to submit their own memorable content. “Being off-campus motivated folks even more to try and reach for that nostalgia factor and send in really meaningful clips,” Park said. Interested students may submit their favorite video memories to Park’s email, spark@exeter.edu.
Senior Wynter Sands, who recently submitted her favorite memories to RLP, commented on the video’s potential impact for the senior class. “I really hope it is somewhat geared toward the class of 2020,” Sands said. “We were unable to have our last time together as a class... It hurts to think about that. However, having a video that reminds the Class of '20 and everyone else how strong PEA's sense of community is and how much we support each other would be an amazing parting gift.”
Furthermore, Sands stressed the importance of a supportive student body during uncertain times. “I hope that the video does not highlight coronavirus but instead highlights our sense of community (as said before),” Sands said. “In addition, it could be cool to show that although Exonians are scattered across the globe right now, we are all still here for each other, and when we were together on campus, it was a time to appreciate.”
With a focus on the Academy’s diverse community, RLP plans to incorporate a variety of music choices. While maintaining the video’s surprise factor, Park briefly mentioned its soundtrack to The Exonian. “I'm a big fan of choosing songs that go with the clips,” Park said. “I won’t name specific songs, but I can say we’ve got some 2010s bops that hopefully people vibe with, some K-pop and, of course, a couple TikTok songs.”
Even though Park is spending her last term away from the Academy, she hopes the video can help keep people connected. “I wish I could have done all the senior spring things, like Skip Day and going on the roof of the Academy Building—but I recognise it's a sacrifice we've all got to make in this turbulent time.”
Outside of the video project, Park has also been using her free time to learn animation and archery. “Most of my creative energy comes late at night, so I’ve been able to stay up to work on projects a lot more being at home,” Park said. Though she has had previous experience with stop motion “claymation,” a type of animation using clay figures, Park had rarely worked with entirely two-dimensional styles until this term. “I haven’t really gotten to the point where I’d be able to make a project of much substance for animation, but I hope to,” Park said.
Finally, Park is authoring a novel titled The Spiders, which follows the journey of a lawyer whose body is entirely made of spiders. “I’m very inspired by Kafka [and] Camus,” Park said. “[The story is tragic], but I think that adds to the absurdity of it all.” After the novel’s future publication, Park commented on the possibility of adapting The Spiders into a short film.
Park attributed Exeter’s encouraging environment to her growth as a filmmaker and a creative thinker. “I think my biggest takeaway is the truly great inspiration that such a vibrant community of artists on campus has been for me, and I hope for others, too.”